A 6–3 conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the U.S. government can turn away asylum seekers who arrive at the border without processing their claims.
The case, Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, was one of the closely watched immigration cases of the current Supreme Court term. It concerned whether an alien who is stopped on the Mexican side of the U.S.–Mexico border "arrives in the United States" under the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which states that an alien "who arrives in the United States …may apply for asylum" and be inspected.
